Olive & Mango

Raspberry Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

It’s raspberry season here in Ontario and I’m dying to go pick some! I just went and picked some strawberries a few days ago and it was magical. That may seem a little over dramatic but if you knew how long it’s been since I picked strawberries you would understand. It has been over 25 years if not more. I have bought market berries since then but nothing beats the experience of picking your own. What was exciting about it this time was seeing my husband experience it for the very first time. He brought his camera with him and the attitude of “how long is this going to take and let’s make it snappy”. Let’s just say by the time I started picking he had his own basket and was picking and eating his way through the patch! As soon as we got there he could smell the berries in the air and he couldn’t believe it. The air was sweet smelling and we couldn’t have picked a better day or time! It was golden hour and there was a beautiful breeze. Ideal picking conditions and photography conditions.

Market berries are fantastic but freshly picked are even more so. Johann kept deeply inhaling the air and the berries taking in their amazing aroma and each bite was followed with “oh man these taste like candy! These are sooo good!” We has a great time and he can’t wait to go back. We wanted to pick some raspberries but they weren’t quite ready yet so we will be back there soon for those and will definitely be making this cake again. It’s so delicious with the raspberries as they are the perfect mixture of sweet with a bit of tart which blends well with lemony flavours. The lemony flavours also really go well with poppy seeds and thus this combo happened. This cake can be made with blueberries and strawberries and even cherries as well just a little FYI if you you were feeling it but with a different berry in mind.

This cake has so many delicious textures in it. You get the light and delicious cake with subtle hints of coconut/vanilla and lemon and then you have a bit of crunch from the poppy seeds as well, then you have that jammy fruity part from the delicious raspberries and of course a bit of crunch from the buttery sweet streusel topping - beautiful textures in each bite if you ask me. It’s not overly sweet at all and I really enjoyed this for breakfast too. It’s just one of those cakes that is totally light enough for brekkie (go ahead I won’t tell), great as a dessert with ice cream or a dollop of whip which is how I like it and perfect for afternoon tea!!

It’s also super simple to put together and also pretty quick to make. We loved it and also shared it with others who loved it as well. One of them being my sweet little nephew who I miss dearly! This was one of the last cakes I made while in Trinidad. In fact I had some the last day we were at our apartment. I gave some to him and his mom and dad and he wanted to try some. So I warned him about the poppy seeds cause he had never had any before. I just told him it may be a little crunchy from some super special and yummy tiny seeds in the cake. He loved it but he started doing the cutest thing. He started picking out of his mouth every crunchy part and showing it to me and asking if that was the seed - which made me laugh so hard cause it was the cutest thing! You had to be there. Anyways this cake pleased a 5 year old so if it could do that you know there’s definitely something yummy about it. I know you will love it and it’s a great little cake to showcase your raspberries! Enjoy!

Recipe

Makes a 9 inch cake

Ingredients

For the cake

1½ cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp poppy seeds

½ tsp salt

¾ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup of shredded coconut

½ cup coconut oil or vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

½ tsp of lemon zest and juice of half a small lemon

1 tsp vanilla or coconut extract

2 cups of frozen or or fresh raspberries chopped

For the streusel topping

¼ cup flour

¼ cup oats

1 tbsp poppy seeds

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp of coconut flakes or shredded coconut

3 tbsps of butter softened

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 ° F and line the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan preferably a springform pan and butter the sides of it. To line a springform pan simply cut a large square piece of parchment paper and place it over the bottom part of the springform pan,place the ring over top and clamp it into place. This is fuss free way with no extra cutting and makes it super easy to transfer the cake from the pan to serving plate.

In a small bowl combine all the dry ingredients for the streusel and then add the butter and mix with your fingertips until clumps start to form. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour,baking powder, poppy seeds, salt, sugar and coconut flakes and set aside

In a medium bowl whisk together the oil, eggs, buttermilk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and then add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.

Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth

Sprinkle the raspberries over batter evenly and then sprinkle streusel evenly over the raspberries and bake for approx 55-60 minutes until streusel is golden and tester comes out clean.

Let cool for at least 15 minutes before removing from pan and can be served warm or cold.